The present invention relates in general to telephone systems and more particularly to a universal answering arrangement for use with PABX telephone systems.
A large number of PABX telephone system -- for example, those used by many department stores and by most hotels -- are not equipped with incoming registers which permit direct connection for incoming calls to the desired line circuit. Rather, incoming calls are connected via incoming trunks to one or more operator positions. The attendant, after answering the call, then extends the call to the desired telephone set. Normally, when all of the attendants are busy, the calling party either receives a busy signal, or oftentimes lengthy ringing until an attendant becomes free to answer the call. In many instances the calling party is then placed on hold, while the attendant returns to an earlier received call. The length of time that the calling party must wait before reaching the desired number may be a source of aggravation to a potential customer -- for example, a businessman attempting to make a reservation at a motel. In other instances, a call of an emergency nature is delayed. In such PABX telephone systems, it would be desirable to have provision for automatic routing of the incoming call to a free predesignated telephone line which could be answered -- for example, by a room clerk who could then give the desired assistance to the caller.
With PABX telephone systems, all of the operator positions may be unattended at night. In the prior art systems in such circumstances, a night switchover is made and all incoming calls are automatically translated to a predetermined telephone set at the PABX. Generally, the designation of the set may not be readily changed. If a business has only one or a small number of security guards making rounds, calls may not be answered. Furthermore, in such systems only one call at a time may be handled at night. If the designated line is busy, callers are forced to retry their calls. Depending on the length of time that the designated line is busy, the callers may become annoyed or call a competing business (e.g., a motel). Therefore, it would be desirable in systems where trunks are answered by the operator to include provision for changing the designation of the night line and for permitting incoming night calls to be connected to additional lines if the normal night line is busy.
A number of businesses have a plurality of PABX systems each in a different location. For such businesses it may be desirable to provide for answering of incoming night calls to all such locations, but unnecessary from a securing standpoint and uneconomical to station employees at each location. Therefore, it would be desirable to include provision in such systems for routing of all night calls to a central location, thereby requiring only one night attendant.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a novel and improved universal answer arrangement for use with PABX telephone systems.
Another object of the invention is to provide such an arrangement which permits all night calls to be automatically routed to a predetermined telephone line, the designation of which is easily alterable.
Still another object of the present invention is to provide such an arrangement which provides for operator type supervision of night calls.
A further object of the invention is to provide such an arrangement which does not provide answer supervision until the designated line circuit goes off hook and which permits the incoming calls to be routed to a free designated line if a first designated line is busy.
Another object of the invention is to provide such an arrangement which permits routing of incoming night calls to another PABX in the event that all designated local night lines are busy or the incoming PABX location is unattended.
A further object of the invention is to provide such an arrangement which permits calls to be routed to different destinations depending on their origin or connected group of incoming trunks by means of alterable program application.